In the Old Town of Rhodes lies a somber tribute known as Martyrs' Square, dedicated to the memory of over 1,500 Jews who were tragically sent to Auschwitz in 1944.
This poignant spot was once a thriving Jewish quarter, established around 1522 when Sultan Suleiman granted Jews a century-long tax exemption. Their gratitude is reflected in the enduring architecture, including Greece’s oldest synagogue still standing today.
Historically, the Jews in Rhodes experienced a period of relative prosperity. By early 1839, their robust economic activities and religious freedom led to the establishment of six synagogues, despite the community numbering just over 3,500 individuals. World War I saw the Jewish population grow as hundreds from Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria relocated to the island. However, during the same period, a number of local Jews left Rhodes, seeking new lives in Europe, the USA, and Africa.
In 1944, the Gestapo forcefully deported most of Rhodes’s Jewish community to Auschwitz. The Turkish consulate intervened to rescue around 200 individuals. The rest endured harsh labor camps, with only 151 out of 1604 deported Rhodes Jews surviving. In 2002, a Holocaust memorial was erected on the island, inscribed in six languages, including Hebrew, Greek, and English, with a message to eternally remember the 1604 Jewish victims from Rhodes and Kos who perished in Nazi death camps.
The memorial has been subjected to vandalism, leading to restorations in 2008 and 2012. A small local Jewish community of 35 members diligently maintains the site.
In the Old Town of Rhodes, near the «Gallery Royal» shop and the synagogue, lies the Square of the Jewish Martyrs, on the town’s eastern side.
